Monday, October 05, 2015

mentally ready for a trip to the States

I've got two "comp days" under my belt because I worked four hours late on two weekdays, then worked nearly a full day two Saturdays ago. I'm using one comp day to take off on October 13, the day before I launch off to Virginia. This will give me a full day to pack. I'm holding the other comp day in reserve.

Man, I'm ready to go to the States. It's really a shame, though, that I won't be able to do much of anything while I'm there: I land at National Airport on the night of the 14th, right before midnight; I stay overnight at my buddy Mike's house that night, grab my car (which Mike has been keeping in trust), shop for a SIM card in Fredericksburg on the morning of the 15th, then drive to West Virginia so I can check in at the resort lodge where the wedding will be taking place. The 15th is also Sean's birthday, so there'll be those festivities to consider. The 16th will be the day of the wedding rehearsal, but there's also some sort of cocktail/social event happening so that the wedding guests all have a chance to mingle. The 17th is the day of the wedding, so that day is obviously filled. I leave the resort on the morning of the 18th, have dinner with a former student that same day, then fly back to South Korea the following day—the 19th. A whirlwind trip this will be.

That said, it'll be good to breathe American air again, at least for a little while. I love living in Seoul, but every now and then it's nice to be out and about, far away from the madding crowd, and I'm happy to be in a financial position where I can afford such a trip. I'm also pretty much done with all my wedding-related prep; all I need to do now is study up a bit on wedding procedure, figure out what I'm going to say during the homily section of the ceremony, and learn how to tie the two traditional knots on my dang hanbok*—not to mention figuring out how to disrobe quickly in case of restroom emergencies. I also need to pack, but I'll have all day on the 13th to do that.

Yeah... I'm ready to do some traveling.



*I just checked out YouTube, and sure enough, there are plenty of how-to videos. I'm gonna watch one of those videos maybe fifty times, then practice tying those knots fifty times or until I've gotten the hang of it—whichever comes first.


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1 comment:

John from Daejeon said...

Kevin, you can save some time and buy your sim card beforehand online via ebay, amazon, or walmart. Then, it would already be waiting for you upon arrival at your friend's, or brother's, house.